The United States and Nigeria have officially signed a memorandum of understanding to repatriate $53 million in stolen funds to Nigeria.
These funds are associated with the Galactica asset linked to former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.
During the signing ceremony, Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), announced that $50 million of the recovered amount approximately N77 billion will be used to fund rural electrification projects aimed at boosting the reliability and availability of renewable energy across the country.
The remaining $2.88 million will be allocated as a grant to the International Institute for Justice (IIJ) to enhance counter-terrorism capacity building for criminal justice practitioners in Africa.
Fagbemi expressed appreciation for the US government’s cooperation in the recovery process, emphasizing that measures have been put in place to ensure the transparent use of the repatriated funds.
He also called for continued collaboration in finalizing other pending cases of asset repatriation.
In response, US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, affirmed that the repatriation was based on trust in Nigeria’s commitment to transparency in managing the funds, noting that without this assurance, the agreement would not have been reached.
